A Kitten in the Snow
by koyasufan
Summary: [Fluff, bit of a holiday theme] A short follow up to Dance with Me. It's been months since Schu played his little game with that woman in the bar, so what is it that finds them meeting yet again?


_Insert standard disclaimers here. Not mine, never will be._**  
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**A Kitten in the Snow**

That was a sight that he didn't expect to see. The woman from the nightclub all those months ago. She had changed her hairstyle, and was dressed for the weather not a club. Dark brown hair swept up into a barrette, giving her a more tossled look than had been that night.

But it was her.

"Schuldig, what are you watching?"

A tall young man with red hair that fluttered around his shoulders tipped his head to the side to look at the not-quite boy that had stepped up behind him. "Nothing, kid. You done with your shopping?"

The other nodded abruptly as his eyes followed to the other side of the street where Schuldig had been staring not a moment earlier. "Was there someone there?" The red-head shook his head quietly as he pushed away from the lamp post where he had been leaning. A pair of dark blue eyes narrowed at him suspiciously. "Hiding it from me won't keep Crawford from finding out, you know."

The German looked back over his shoulder once. She was already gone. "Just a ghost, kid. Nothing more."

Nagi sighed lightly in annoyance. Like he couldn't hear the longing in his teammate's voice when he said that. "Fine. Let's go home then."

Schuldig nodded quietly and walked towards where he left the car. "You know he's not even going to notice what you did, let alone appreciate it."

"Maybe..."

"And don't let Farfarello anywhere near the decorations..."

"I didn't get anything with religious connotations. There's a lot of Japanese that celebrate Christmas that don't do it for the religious reasons behind the holiday. It's a festival, after all."

**xxxxx**

"Kyoko! Come on!"

The dark-haired figure that had been staring into the window in front of her turned to look at the woman calling her name. A little taller, with long red hair that she had in huge curls that fell forward over her shoulders for the most part. Part of it was tucked up under the hat perched on her head. "Still looking for something to catch his attention, hmm?" the red-head smiled as she saw what she thought her friend had been staring at. A low-cut black slip dress was in the window on a mannequin.

Kyoko laughed and shook her head as she looked back at the glass...and the reflection of the people on the sidewalk. There was something familiar about the figure leaning on that streetlight across the street.

"You are so hopeless. Come on," the other woman laughed as she grabbed her friend's arm and tugged her down the sidewalk.

**xxxxx**

_It's a festival, after all._

Schuldig stared silently at the figurine in his hands. He had bought it at one of the stores while Nagi was busy looking for some decoration or another. It wasn't quite her. Shoulder length brown hair surrounded a smiling face on a slender body. That much was almost her. The schoolgirl uniform that the figure wore wasn't. Still...

He stretched back to lay across his bed. Stupid fantasy. It made him question everything that he was.

"And I like what I am, and nothing's going to change that. Not even you, kitten."

Kyoko sighed as she settled her bags on the floor. Every year Hanae--Manx--took her out shopping in an attempt to keep the younger woman from sinking into depression. Every year she came back about ten thousand yen poorer, and still just as sad when it was over.

This was the one time of the year that she really did miss them. She missed the laughter and smiles...the one year that Takeshi found out what mistletoe was and managed not only to find some, but also catch her under it. She had blushed most of the rest of the day after that.

There was no replacing memories like that, no matter how much Hanae tried.

She slipped out of her coat, then paused to look at herself in the mirror near the hooks on the wall. Ten years of music lessons, school, etiquette, social functions...all thrown away in a heartbeat.

_"Kyochan could even catch the eye of the Emperor's sons if she wanted!"_

_"Loosen up, Kyochan!"_

Chie...Atsuko. The letters from the two girls she had once been friends with in high school sat on the table under the mirror unopened. Kyoko had been nervous about opening them when they arrived three days before. She hadn't hidden her identity or where she was, just _what_ she was. Birman was a ghost that no one had ever seen. But...she wasn't sure she could take the memories that could be in there.

"You really should decorate or something. Anything that would keep your mind off of whatever it is you always think about. I can't afford more than one shopping trip like this in a month," Kitada Hanae scolded as she stepped into the modest apartment, closing the door behind her as she slipped off her boots.

"I'm afraid I'd spend all the time I'd set aside to decorate staring at the decorations and remembering too many things. Sorry, neesan," Kyoko whispered as she picked up the two letters and walked over to the couch to sit down.

Hanae stared at her companion for a moment, then wandered into the kitchen. "You want tea or coffee?" she called back.

"Tea," the younger woman replied as she nervously slipped a finger under the seal of the first envelope. _Inoue Chie_. The girl had gotten married last year, if Kyoko remembered correctly.

Several pictures peeked from where they were tucked into the paper inside the envelope. Kyoko pulled them out with a smile. Not only was Chie married, but there was her old classmate with her husband and baby.

_"Kyochan! I know I haven't written for a while, but things have been busy. I really wish you could come to see us, but I know. Work, work, work, right? Just wanted to send you some pictures of Eiji, Jun, and myself. You're welcome to come spend the month with us if you want. I hate thinking of you all alone with nothing but your work now. I wish I had time to write more, but Jun is rather demanding of my time. Write me when you get a chance. Love always! Chie."_

Kyoko looked up at the tea cup that was suddenly in front of her face. "One of your friends?" the red-head asked as she sat down on the couch beside Kyoko.

The dark-haired woman nodded. "Ishida Chie. I met her in junior high when I went to Yokohama Gakuen. Her family was one of the richest in the city at the time. Mine wasn't poor, but we couldn't compete in that manner. She fell in love with one of my friends from the neighborhood...which just about gave her father a heart attack." She smiled as she held up a picture. "Inoue Eiji was one of Takeshi's best friends. Gave me a good excuse to be around Takeshi."

Hanae laughed. "What about the other one?"

Kyoko fingered the second envelope with her free hand. "Nagoya Atsuko. Takeshi's sister..."

"Oh..." The red-head went silent with that word, sipping at her tea.

"She and Chie always try to get me to come home for the whole month. I tell them that I can't, but that doesn't stop them from trying." Kyoko shrugged quietly, tossing the unopened letter on the low table in front of her.

**xxxxx**

"Schuldig!"

The German groaned and shoved the blanket off of his head when he heard Crawford's yell from outside his room. _What. Do. You. Want?_

_Just get up._ Crawford's mental reply was more than just commanding. Schuldig muttered something about paying him back later with a particularly bad mental image in the middle of breakfast.

**xxxxx**

"Why are you sending him alone?" Nagi asked softly from where he was sitting in front of his computer.

"Because I'm sick of him moping around here for the last three days," the American replied curtly. Both of their eyes shifted up to the hall where Schuldig's room was as the German showed up and leaned in the frame.

"You rang, Bradley?" the red-head drawled out in heavily accented English.

A flicker of annoyance shone in Crawford's eyes, but that was all the satisfaction that he'd give his teammate. "I have a job for you. Couple of days in Yokohama escorting around one of Takatori's clients. Nothing serious. I think I can count on you to not screw this up?"

Schuldig wiped at his eyes. "Whatever you say. But they better not be some old man or something. At least better have an interesting brain if nothing else." He waved a hand to the side nonchalantly.

"Oh, I think you'll like this job. " Crawford smiled faintly before turning back to Nagi and the computer. "And there's a cemetery that looks over the ocean outside of the city limits. You might want to visit it on Christmas Day...alone."

Schuldig blinked. "Why? Some ghost going to eat my pretty face?"

"Just go."

The German opened his mouth to say something, but realized that as far as Crawford was concerned, the conversation was over.

"Right."

**xxxxx**

Schuldig blinked as he looked over the cemetery. _She_ was sitting right there in front of a monument. Crawford had to know she would be here. It explained why their leader had sent him here with no other explanation.

He smiled as he stepped towards the monument that she was kneeling in front of. _Takaoka._

She looked up with a start as his shoes crunched snow underneath them. Tears were evident in her eyes, as well as a faint trail that was dried on each cheek. "Well, well, a lost little kitten in the snow. Aren't you cold out here?" She stared at him blankly a moment before he knelt down beside her. "Come on, Kitten, don't tell me you forgot me."

She turned back to the gravestone when his face got a little too dangerously close to hers. "Apparently, I made more of an impression on you than you did me," she murmured in reply, leaning forward a little to straighten the flowers she had just laid under the names.

"Ist das so, Katzchen?" An arm slipped around her as he leaned close, lips brushing against her ear. He felt her shiver just before she closed her eyes. "Gerade was ich dachte." He let the hand around her body pull her a little closer as he buried his nose in her hair.

She leaned against him a little. "Your accent isn't as easy to hear," the dark-haired woman voiced softly. His other arm slipped around her to pull her closer yet.

"I've been working on it," he murmured, switching back to Japanese. She leaned closer to him for the warmth. "You're cold. How long have you been out here?"

"Too long. But...I always spend this day here."

He didn't ask her why. It wasn't worth the energy just to hear her say it. He already knew from listening to her thoughts earlier. "I've got a few hours before I have to meet my friends. How about I take you somewhere to warm up?" She squirmed away from him with those words, and he laughed a little. "Not that way. There's a place a few blocks from here that has the best hot chocolate in Japan."

She blinked as he tapped her nose with another laugh. "I'm not that terrible...not to a girl like you, at least," Schuldig grinned as he stood up and stretched a hand down to her.

A gloved hand nervously reached up to rest in the palm of his. He smiled a little more as he wrapped his hand around hers and pulled her to her feet. Her eyes went wide as he used the momentum to pull her into a kiss. She was surprised, he could feel, but she didn't pull away.

_Merry Christmas..._

She finally pulled away from the touch almost reluctantly after a few moments. "Merry Christmas, German."

He smiled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Best one I've ever had. Come on...before we have to go back to reality."

She nodded quietly and leaned against him with a sigh. "Thank you."

"Anything for my favorite little kitten..."

_Owari_

_

* * *

gakuen _-- "school/academy" The school in question is a junior/senior high in Yokohama. I wasn't sure how I wanted to translate it, so I just left it in the original Japanese.

_Ist das so, Katzchen?_ -- "Is that so, Kitten?"

_Gerade was ich dachte._ -- "Just what I thought."


End file.
